128/Up by the Tower

Up by the Tower
Date of Scene:	25 February 2020
Location:	Roof Tower
Synopsis:	Scott and Jean talk about current events. Mostly Rachel. Also Genosha.
Cast of Characters:	Scott Summers, Jean Grey

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Scott Summers has posed:
The roof tower used to be the place to hide when one wanted to be alone, back in the time the school had less than ten students. Unsurprisingly, Scott was here quite often, reading or doing homework.

Now he comes here to have a quick lunch and maybe to grade papers on his work laptop. Still good to hide for a while. But with dozens of students roaming along the halls, it rarely lasts. But he has a sandwich and a couple essays to review before the real work begins a few levels under the school. The Blackbird is seeing a lot of use with the Genosha crisis going and he needs to make sure all the systems are green. Then there are Danger Room simulations to prepare. That is actually a rather fun thing, as he has some new evil ideas to program.

Jean Grey has posed:
The thing with Scott's hiding spots? There's always been one person that knows where that is. Not that he could keep it secret from her, if she really wanted to know... but it isn't like she had to work hard to figure it out either.

Which is when Jean pokes her head into the roof tower, smiling a bit, "Hey, Scott. Mind if I come up?" She has a few papers of her own to grade, and well... she needs to eat sometime too.

Scott Summers has posed:
It is not hard to figure it out, Scott has his favorite spots, and makes a point to tell his close friends where he is lurking. He just likes his solitude, and planning and scheming is best done alone.

He also likes redheads, maybe that is why Jean can always find him. Supposedly he has the training to hide even from skilled telepaths. But those skills are best used on students wanting to know the tests questions ahead.

"By all means," he replies, not bothering to raise his voice. Bothering instead in making his thoughts clearer. "It is nice up here, despite the rain earlier," and actually it is chilly, but Scott is Alaskan and it shows.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean grins, "Yeah, nice being a relative term, Mister Alaska." Granted, upstate New York isn't exactly a tropical paradise, but Jean is wearing a green turtleneck sweater to match her long skirt. She comes up, bearing a thai chicken wrap as well as said papers to review.

She then notices the thoughts clearing up, and smiles a bit more in gratitude for that, "Anything interesting in the papers yet? Or your schemes to torment people with the Danger Room? I swear you learned too much for the Professor in that regard." Another tease, as she takes a seat next to Scott with her wrap.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott hrms. He is rarely happy with the students' essays. He uses textbook grading curves and statistics, though, so failing his classes requires a concerted effort at incompetence. Still, a few -do- manage.

But it is just his second year as a teacher, so he follows Xavier's guidelines to the dot, saving his creativity for... "don't pry, Danger Room is only dangerous if you don't know what is coming," he offers a rare, faint smile. Which means, yes, creative today.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean chuckles quietly, "Why am I glad you weren't in charge of those things when //we// were students?" She gives him a wry look, taking a bite out of her wrap, "Of course, this year I'm teaching psychology, which has a lot of people trying to BS their way through... well, they try, but since I gave them a pop quiz that they had to answer with their thoughts..." She smiles so innocently at that, it must really be a talent, "Well, they've been far more attentive since I did that."

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott teaches a number of basic classes, leaving the more advanced to the others. The plan was to spend less time teaching kids and more time working on team matters. He underestimated how much work it would take. Good thing next year they will have more teachers. Also more students... be he will delegate.

"I saw. You managed to win them over in a few days," and he is impressed. Xavier can do it too, but Scott struggles. Of course he soldiers on, he always does, but he is not made to be a teacher.

"Have you talked with Rachel?" He asks, changing subjects quite suddenly.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean hmms, "Not... really? I mean, I ran into her just by chance last night. She had... um, a little bit of a freakout." She hrms, "Some armed men were trying to recapture some medical experiments, that had something to do with Logan. We managed to stop them, but... well, he's going to follow up with that."

She glances over at Scott, "I brought her back here since she was in bad shape, though she hugged me so tight I swear she thought she saw a ghost." Her eyes narrow a bit, as she says, "Why? What's up with her? I mean, she has the Phoenix Force, I sensed /that/." Plus, well, Logan got accidentally blasted with it.

Scott Summers has posed:
"Remember a couple years back," mentions Scott. "When Kitty Pryde was possessed by a woman that claimed to be her future self," he still uses 'claimed', although he has no doubts it was true anymore.

"Well, Rachel said she was one of the mutants that send her back," continues Scott. "She is a time traveler from 27 years in the future. And... she believes the Phoenix sent her here. Or helped her here. But I think she might be projecting. She wanted to be here to escape a rather terrible time, and had the powers to time-jump."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "Wow... yeah, that makes sense, based on what I saw of her. I mean, her mental shields were formidable, but I got some leakage there. Definitely a bad place that she's from." She sighs a bit, "Currently I just put her in one of the guest rooms, she's resting for now because she definitely needed it."

She hrms, "She definitely //does// look familiar though, but I haven't quite been able to place it. And her head has had enough trauma, I'm not going to poke around uninvited." She looks at Scott, arching a brow towards him as if silently asking what happened between him and Rachel.

Scott Summers has posed:
"I thought you would 'get' her faster," he remarks with a sigh. "You are usually far more perceptive for these things, Jean." Scott closes the laptop, leaning back. "Her full name is Rachel Summers, and claims to be my daughter. She has my surname and your powers, and... your hair, your cosmic firebird. It is quite obvious you are her mother. Or will be, perhaps, in some four years."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean blinks, as apparently denial isn't just a river in Egypt... and telepaths can go through it just as much as anyone else. Then she says, "Um... Scott, you know you could have asked me out for a while now and I would have said yes, right? This is a bit of a weird way to do it." She jokes, because she's... well, not sure how to feel about this.

Her eyes flicker over towards Scott, and she quirks a faint smile, "Our daughter? And she's our age now. That's... um, something. I... I don't even know what to say. I mean, well..." To say it's a lot to take in, is a definite understatement.

Wait, she was //waiting// for Scott to ask her out?!?

Scott Summers has posed:
Of all things Scott didn't expect Jean disbelieving him was not one. So he blinks. Which is lost because of the glasses, but he is surprised and Jean knows him enough to notice.

"No... I mean, yes. Saturday evening, movies and dinner is goiod?" Pause. Oh yes, he would have never dared to say -that- when he was seventeen. But that was before almost getting killed a hundred times, plus college, 'space pirate' dad and... a daughter from the future. He is sure Captain America never went through half the crap he went through.

Then he goes back to the somewhat more important part of the conversation. "Rachel is... hmm, she really believes it. And to be honest, she gave me very strong arguments for the whole time travel and... family link. I interrogated her with Kitty present."

Because of course, Scott would 'interrogate' his would-be daughter first thing. "I found a few inconsistences in her story, main one being the X-Men saved Robert Kelly. I really want Hank or even Reed Richards go over her story, but still... Jean, I think she is who she says she is."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "So probably another timeline... one where we didn't?" She looks over at Scott, and grins a bit, "Now, see, was //that// really so hard?" Wait, is she talking about asking her out, or processing Rachel as possible-future-daughter?

Then she leans in and places an almost-shy kiss on Scott's cheek, "Dinner and a movie sounds fabulous, and Saturday works. I don't have anything going on, but with everything in Genosha, well, rain checks only for massive world-threatening crises."

She then nods to Scott, "And have a chat with Rachel when she's up for it. I suspect there's going to be a lot to process for both of us... well, all three of us."

Scott Summers has posed:
Asking Jean out was surprisingly easy. Then again, she kind of pushed him. There was, however, a million reasons why Scott never did it before. Okay, so there weren't GOOD reasons. But reasons anyway, damnit.

Also, Genosha might force a long delay on everything. But... baby steps.

He hmms, smiling faintly again. "Yes. You need to talk to this girl. From a psychologist viewpoint too. I am getting 'child soldier' vibes from her. I suspect she had a harsh childhood and she is going to need counseling. Xavier perhaps better than you. On the other hand having another well-trained telepath around at this critical time is going to be very helpful."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "That was the impression I got from her. I suspect that whatever happened in her timeline... wasn't exactly the best for any of us. Hopefully this gives her an opportunity for a fresh start." She smiles a little bit, "And yes, the Professor might be a better choice than me, given the personal baggage we'd both have about this."

She hmms, "Wouldn't be a bad idea to maybe bring in Reed or someone else, they might have access to more than we do here. Especially if there might be others from her timeline wanting to visit." She pauses, "And they might not be as nice." Which, considering what she gleaned from Rachel's mind in their brief contact, is an understatement and a half.

Scott Summers has posed:
The possibility that Rachel might be chased after from her timeline had not crossed Scott's mind, and he curses himself quietly for the oversight. It might seems unlikely. But they are dealing with technology from 27 years in the future. Checking up with Reed Richards seems a better and better idea.

"We will have to talk with the Professor," decides Scott. Genosha is going to shift everyone's priorities, after all. The school must go on, but the X-Men need to rescue and protect the few survivors. That is also priority. There were X-Men in Genosha. They have not heard anything from Polaris yet. And she likely not the only one MIA.

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean nods, "Yeah, I'll make sure to do something when my team gets back from Genosha. Hoping these magnetic fluxes mean that Lorna is around." She sighs a bit, and does place a hand on Scott's shoulder, giving him a bit of a look.

"You know, you can't anticipate //everything//, Scott. That's why you have the rest of us." She gives him a bit of a crooked smile, as it didn't take a psychic to see him kicking himself for that.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott hrms in mild disagreement. "It is his job, Jean." The others can pitch in ideas, sure, but it is his job to anticipate problems and plan contingencies that keep everyone alive later.

And magnetic fluxes might mean -Magneto- is around. Likely a crazed Magneto on the warpath of vengeance against everything and everyone. He will be greatly relieved if it is Lorna. And he has to trust Jean will lead the team well, even if Magneto shows up. She is much better than him for rescuing operations and some senior X-Men need to stay in New York.

"Come back before Saturday evening, hmm?" He comments, only half-serious. Then checks his watch. "My break is over. I need to get back to the classrooms."

Jean Grey has posed:
Jean smiles, "Okay then, have fun with your class. I'll definitely see you Saturday." Because well, if it's taken him this long to actually ask her out, she's //not// going to miss this opportunity. If Magneto is there, he should be smart and keep his head down.

Jean then nods, "Well, I might be bringing Rachel along for this, as it'll be a good chance to get to know her. Kitty and Rogue are coming as well, so we should be okay for at least this first run." Here's hoping it doesn't get too complicated... but then, this team is pretty capable.